Extensible gate for elevator shafts



Feb. 4, 1969 F, M. CLEVELAND 3,425,165

EXTENSIBLE GATE FOR ELEVATOR SHAFTS Filed Nov. 24, 1967 INVENTOR.

BIELOYD M. CLEVELH/VD 5 9 M arrow/EX United States Patent EXTENSIBLEGATE FOR ELEVATOR SHAFTS Floyd M. Cleveland, Plantation, Fla., assignorto General Safety, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a corporation of FloridaFiled Nov. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 685,530

US. Cl. 49-465 10 Claims Int. Cl. E06b /00, 11/02; E05c 19/06 ABSTRACTOF THE DISCLOSURE An extensible gate for protectively spanning anelevator shaft opening of a building under construction which includes aplurality of pads to engage the marginal surface of the elevator openingin the vertical plane across the mouth of the opening and spring meansto hold the gate in an extended position in abutting engagement with thesides of the building opening.

This invention relates to a device particularly useful in theconstruction of buildings and comprises a gate adapted to be positionedspanning the mouth of an elevator shaft opening to overlay a surface ofthe wall so that it cannot be thrust into the elevator shaft and whichis yieldable for removal from the opening.

In the past, there have been numerous accidents which have occurred inthe construction building by reason of open elevator shafts, and thisinvention is of a temporary gate to be installed at an elevator shaftopening which is under construction.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an extensiblegate composed of skeletal members joined together for expansion andcontraction into abutting engagement with the sides of a mouth of anopening and having a plurality of surfaces to extend in overlayingrelation on the vertical plane of the mouth of the opening with the gatein spanning relation thereof.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a simple andinexpensive gate for placement in the opening of elevator shaft which isadapted to be removed by collapsing the same on movement of the skeletonmembers toward one another against a spring pressure normally urging themembers apart for abutting engagement with the sides of the mouth of anelevator shaft opening so that bearing surfaces are maintained inoverlapping relation on the wall surface in the plane of the mouth ofthe elevator shaft opening to resist forces perpendicular to the planeof the opening and toward the dangerous elevator shaft.

It is a general object of this invention to provide a simple andinexpensive, collapsible gate for use in an elevator shaft opening whichis portable, readily installed, and which is well adapted for thepurposes explained above.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodimentthereof.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view which has been broken away and whichillustrates the gate in a normal position;

FIGURE 2. is a side elevation view of the gate of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the gate of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is an elevation view of the gate installed at an elevatoropening.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like referencecharacters designate like or corresponding 3,425,165 Patented Feb. 4,1969 parts throughout the difierent views, and referring particularly toFIGURE 1, there is shown a gate which is generally designated by thenumeral 12. The gate is adapted to be placed in spanning relation of anelevator shaft opening with the lower lateral member 14 being supportedon the floor at the margin of the opening. To the opposite ends of thelower member 14, there are provided upstanding legs 16 and 18 which ai'epivotally connected as at 20 and 22 to: the lower member. The upperterminal ends 24 and 26 of the legs are spanned by an extensible member28 to be described more fully hereinafter. Additionally, an intermediatemember 30 may be provided, the intermediate member being anchored at oneend 32 to one of the legs and connected in a pin and slot connectionindicated by the numeral 34 for relative movement of the leg 18 withrespect to' the member 30 on pivotal movement of the leg 18. Referringto the member 28, it is composed of a pair of telescopic tubularmembers, an inner member and an outer member 38. Within the outer membera spring 40 is captivated and bears against the end 42 of the innermember 36 so as to normally hold the leg 18 in the position shown inFIGURE 1. It will be seen on reference to FIGURE 2 that an angleshapedpad member, such as 44 and 46, is provided on each of the upper ends ofthe legs to which the ends of the member 28 are secured. Each of thesepad members includes a flange, such as; 48 and 50, which bears againstthe face of the wall at the building opening. The other flange, 52 and54 of the members 44 and 46 respectively, acts as a pad which bearsagainst the sides of the elevator shaft opening when the leg 18 is inthe vertical position, pressure being exerted by the energy stored inthe captivated spring.

Referring to FIGURES 3 and 4, it will be seen that the gate may becontracted by compressing the spring on pivotal movement of theupstanding legs 16 and 18 toward one another and, thereafter, placingthe gate at the building opening so that it will expand outwardly untilthe pads 52 and 54 engage the wall surface. Thereafter, any forces suchas that indicated by the arrowed lines F which might occur, as jwhen aworkman accidentally bumps the gate, will be transmitted to the buildingopening and he will not fall through. It will also be apparent that fromthe inside of'the elevator shaft the unit may be removed by someone'whodesires to get off the elevator at that particular fioor at which thegate is installed simply by moving the upper ends of the upstanding legstogether and pushing the gate away from the opening.

The unit may be made in any of several suitable sizes, and it will berealized that within the range of the size elevator shaft openingcommonly encountered, the length of the lower member 14 should besufficient to overlap on the wall surface and to be within the range ofmovement of extension which characterizes the upper member with the pinand slot arrangement of the intermediate member connection to theupstanding member 18 comprising stop means to limit extension of theupper member. When the gate is not installed in a building opening, thepin and slot operates as a stop to limit swinging movement of the leg18, and additionally, in the preferred embodiment the legs 16 and 18 areof the angular configuration shown in FIGURE 3. In each pad a slot 62and 64 is preferably provided to accommodate a fastener, not shown, ifdesired.

What is claimed is:

1. For protectively spanning the opening of an elevator shaft in a wall,an expansible gate comprising:

a lateral first member of a length greater than the span of an elevatorshaft opening for spanning placement on a building floor in the verticalplane of the mouth of the opening with the opposite end portions of the--first-member'overlappingthemarginal face of the wall; 7"] a first anda second leg connected to one of the ends of the first member;

a laterally projecting pad in said vertical plane secured on the end ofeach of the legs and above the projecting portions of the lower member;each of said pads including an abutment face extending perpenvdicularlyout of said'vertical plane in a common direction;

" means connecting the legs to the lower member to permit of relativeswinging movement of the pads toward and away from one another in saidvertical plane to carry the portions into and out of overlappingengagement on the wall face;

a lateral second member spanning the upper end of the legs, said secondmember comprising a telescoping tube system including, an inner tube andan outer tube and spring means captivated within said inner tubenormally urging the outer tube to a legs apart position and yieldablefor swinging movement of the legs from the legs apart position; and

stop means to limit extensible movement of the tube system memberswhereby the upper ends of the legs may be moved toward one anotherstoring energy in the spring for placement of the gate with the pads andportions in the vertical plane overlying the marginal surface of thewallface at the mouth of the opening at four areas, a pair of upper andlower areas on either side of the plane of closure and with the abutmentfaces abutting the side surface of the opening, and

so that forces applied from outside the elevator shaft and toward thevertical plane will be transmitted through the overlapping pads andportions to the wall.

.2. The gate as set forth in claim 1 wherein an intermediate lateralmember is provided, one end of said intermediate lateral member beingfixed to said first leg and the other end of said lateral member havingan elongate slot in the other end thereof and pin means movable in saidslot and interconnecting said lateral member to said second leg, saidpin and slot connection providing said stopmeans.

. 3. The gate as set forth in claim 1 wherein the opposite ends of saidsecond lateral member are connected for movement with the oppositeabutment faces.

4. The gate as setforth in claim 1 wherein each of said legs is of rightangle construction as seen in plan with one surface lying in saidvertical plane and with the other surface extending out of said verticalplane in a direction common to that of said abutment faces.

5. The device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the opposite ends of saidsecond lateral member are connected for movement with the oppositeabutment faces.

6. The device as set forth in claim 2 wherein each of said legs is ofright angle construction as seen in plan with one surface lying in saidvertical plane and with the other surface extending out of said verticalplane in a direction common to that of said abutment faces.

7. The device as set forth in claim 3 wherein an intermediate lateralmember is provided, one end of said intermediate lateral member beingfixed to said first leg and the other end of said lateral member havingan elongate slot in the other end thereof and pin means movable in saidslot and interconnecting said lateral member'to said second leg, saidpin and slot connection providing said stop means.

8. The device as set forth in claim 3 wherein each of said legs is ofright angle construction as seen in plan with one surface lying in saidvertical plane and with the other surface extending out of said verticalplane in a direction common to that of said abutment faces.

9. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said legs ispivotally connected to said lower member.

10. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pads are providedwith laterally extending elongate slots for adjustment of a bolttherein.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 935,673 10/1909 Miller 49-551,943,768. 1/1934 Melaas 4957 XR 2,583,613 1/1952 Talbott 4955 XR2,833,248 5/1958 Meyer et al. 49-55 XR 2,892,495 6/1959 Hadden 49-55 XRKENNETH DOWNEY, Primary Examiner.

Us. 01. X.R.

